Thanks, Arni, that's wonderful.
'logndrífa' makes me think of 'long drifts' while with 'Leistursborg' I'm
reminded that Leicester is one of the few English towns that has a specific
Welsh name, rather than a transliteration, it's 'Caerlyr' in Welsh, I think
I've got the spelling right. Which in effect means 'Lear's city' or 'fort',
as does 'Leicester'.
Marvellous piece anyhow, a real joy to read.
Best
Dave
David Bircumshaw
Leicester, England
Home Page
A Chide's Alphabet
Painting Without Numbers
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/index.htm
----- Original Message -----
From: "Árni Ibsen" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, April 12, 2003 4:01 AM
Subject: Re: Not List matters
Dear Dave,
Here's the nigh honest to god haiku!
This is from an endless (luckily), neverending & oh so relentless sequence
about remote places my less than aware mind's caugh me in.
logndrífa
í leistursborg
lúthvítar slæður
sem veifa mér
í kveðjuskyni
meðan þær bráðna
That curious word
'Leistursborg'
is our (nigh) pedantic rendering of 'Leicester City'.
The opening word of the poem, 'logndrífa', is flatly untranslatable.
Literally it may be rendered as 'heavy snow fall in calm weather'.
(Basically too many syllables). Always remember that northern languages have
more words for snow than southern languages have for desert.
Third line: 'lúthvítar slæður' may be carried across by saying 'base-white'
(literally) while 'slæður' means 'veils' or even 'scarfs' ...
The 4th line 'sem veifa þér' reads basically 'that wave to you'
5th line: 'í kveðjuskyni' literally means 'by way of saying farewell'
6th line: reads literallly 'while they melt' ...
It's basically my last minute experience of going downtown for a last-minute
check on a favourite bookstore in Leicester before going way back north just
before Christmas that year.
Best
Árni
--
Árni Ibsen
Stekkjarkinn 19,
220 Hafnarfjördur,
Iceland
tel.: +354-555-3991
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
http://www.centrum.is/~aibsen/
on 4/12/03 2:29 AM, david.bircumshaw at [log in to unmask] wrote:
> Arni
>
> I always go to the Phoenix after the readings. It's about 3 minutes walk
> from where I live. Some of the clientele are completely bonkers, although
in
> an unthreatening way, but if you ever come back here again I reckon I
could
> whip an audience of more than 4, though maybe not at the Phoenix, it's
> rather hard to establish communication with the programme managers these
> days, the management structure has changed since you were here. (You
realise
> that when you were reading I was probably sitting in my flat just down the
> road feeling utterly bored and wondering why Leicester was so culturally
> narrow?! Because nobody had told me. I hardly ever get told anything I
need
> to know in this town!)
>
> Now where's this haiku about snowdrift in Leicester? With translation of
> course. I'll show it to all my friends!
>
> All the Best
>
> Dave
>
>
> David Bircumshaw
>
> Leicester, England
>
> Home Page
>
> A Chide's Alphabet
>
> Painting Without Numbers
>
> http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/index.htm
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Árni Ibsen" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Saturday, April 12, 2003 3:07 AM
> Subject: Re: Not List matters
>
>
> Dear Dave,
>
> What a warm response from you! Yes, I can see it! And would love to go
back.
> (I have a haiku in Icelandic about snowdrift in Leicester). If only to see
> again that dedicated audience of 4, who so generously attended my
half-hour
> reading at the Phoenix on a Sunday afternoon in early December 1999. Come
to
> think of it, I will be back. I just know.
>
> Best
>
> Árni
>
>
> --
> Árni Ibsen
> Stekkjarkinn 19,
> 220 Hafnarfjördur,
> Iceland
>
> tel.: +354-555-3991
> e-mail: [log in to unmask]
> http://www.centrum.is/~aibsen/
>
>
>
> on 4/12/03 2:01 AM, david.bircumshaw at [log in to unmask]
wrote:
>
>> You've definitely been there, Arni, it was the college on Wellington
> Street.
>> As ever I find myself having breathing problems there when only
listening,
>> there's something wrong with the air-conditioning, or whatever it is, I'm
>> not the only one who gets that trouble. There is though a new venue
opened
>> up here, called Cafe Nova, next door to the Princess Charlotte pub, which
>> although it only does poetry once a month, on a Thursday, seems to be
>> promising. The crowd there is mostly young and the atmosphere has a
> certain
>> 'warmth'. I like it and they like me, ancient monument though I am!
>>
>>
>> Best
>>
>> Dave
>>
>>
>>
>> David Bircumshaw
>>
>> Leicester, England
>>
>> Home Page
>>
>> A Chide's Alphabet
>>
>> Painting Without Numbers
>>
>> http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/index.htm
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Árni Ibsen" <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Saturday, April 12, 2003 2:41 AM
>> Subject: Re: Not List matters
>>
>>
>> Dave: GOOD!
>>
>> Life's about poetry ...
>> Any day of the week, Dave.
>> The venue? (I'd like to
>> picture it in case
>> I've been there)
>>
>> Best to you and Leicester
>>
>> Árni
>>
>>
>> --
>> Árni Ibsen
>> Stekkjarkinn 19,
>> 220 Hafnarfjördur,
>> Iceland
>>
>> tel.: +354-555-3991
>> e-mail: [log in to unmask]
>> http://www.centrum.is/~aibsen/
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> on 4/12/03 1:24 AM, david.bircumshaw at [log in to unmask]
> wrote:
>>
>>> Just to make a change, tonight I was at a reading by three writers from
>> the
>>> East Midlands. Now although I wouldn't say any of them were 'great
poets'
>>> all had moments of real wit, feeling, and rhythmic excitation in their
>>> poems. It was an enjoyable event, even if I might have some doubts. I'd
>>> rather they read than they didn't. And surely that's wot poetrie's all
>>> about. They tended towards simple forms, many a rhyming couplet winging
>>> through the air, and the anecdotal, a besetting sin over here, but
still,
>> it
>>> was OK.
>>>
>>> Best
>>>
>>> Dave
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> David Bircumshaw
>>>
>>> Leicester, England
>>>
>>> Home Page
>>>
>>> A Chide's Alphabet
>>>
>>> Painting Without Numbers
>>>
>>> http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/index.htm
|
